SPARTA — New Jersey native and New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Evanovich will be at Sparta Books on July 31 with her new release “The Sweet Spot.”

Coming off the success of her first novel “Big Girl Panties”, Evanovich said she had fun writing her latest creation and hopes that conveys to the reader.

“The Sweet Spot” is a fun romance about a powerful couple in love that faces certain challenges due to a media conflict.

Delving into writingResident of Asbury Park, Evanovich pursued an acting career for 30 years while raising her two sons. She discovered her knack for writing fiction doing community theatre making her own personal journey quite an interesting one.

“While waiting backstage, I started writing stories. I would just watch something going on and write about it," said Evanovich. “Once I got past my Judy Blume stage, I loved romance, so it seemed like a good fit and natural to me.”

After realizing she was not going to be a successful actor, Evanovich gave up her dream in 2011 and moved on.

“I took a corporate job, but hated it because it wasn’t creative," Evanovich said.

She kept the job but continued to write stories and became part of a writers group.

"Big Girl Panties"Evanovich was not focused on writing a book until a connection led to the next steps.

“A friend of mine at St. Martin’s Press said to me if you can get this to 80,000 words, I will have someone look at it,” said Evanovich. “The plot is hard to write I had to give it 100 percent.”

She spent 18 months dedicated to writing “Big Girl Panties”, a story of a personal trainer who decides he is going to makeover an overweight woman. When it eventually got in the hands of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins, Evanovich was immediately signed for a three-book deal.

Evanovich has learned a lot from her first novel.

“The female readers related to the first plus-size character in 'Big Girl Panties,' which I later found out through all the reader feedback," Evanovich said. "It made me realize how much impact words have.”

"The Sweet Spot"Evanovich labels “The Sweet Spot” as lighter with no deep message.

“Two people fall in love and care about each other, but the media sends them down the wrong path,” she said.

Evanovich enjoys comedy and draws her characters from everyday life and an active imagination. One of her newest characters is a professional baseball player.

“I get characters from something I see and observe," Evanovich said. "I always embraced sports and participated in them with my husband and sons. I was a personal trainer for 10 years, and I have a black belt in Tae Kwan Do.”

Presently, Evanovich is promoting “The Sweet Spot” and also working on her third book due to come out next July.

“I hope to hear that the readers laughed. To me, if I entertain you that is the greatest compliment I can get.”